u’re in luck. i’m from miri, actually. 🙂

there’s many places to eat in miri but i may be a bit out of touch because i only go back twice a year and usually eat where my parents bring me.

depending on what’s his budget and whether he’s “adventureous” enough to turn a blind eye on the cleanliness of the area. i’ll put a note on how clean each area will be.

miri city council is extremely pro-active in ensuring food hygiene in miri. each coffee shop would be given a grade on the cleanliness of its premises. plus, it’s mandatory to boil water for any drinks, be it hot drinks or cold drinks so that’s a good sign.

hmm..seafood eh? i usually eat at this seafood place called Apollo Seafood at Apollo Hotel. It’s in the middle of town, family own business that is doing pretty well for itself. It’s diagonal to the MAS office in Miri. note that non-halal so he can order pork if he wishes. House specialty is the Drunken Prawn. Ifyou don’t mind the cost, they will throw in live fresh water prawn into Chinese rice wine and boil it. however, you can ask them to use frozen prawns which is cheaper. it’s a must-have for me when i go back because can’t find a decent restaurant in kuching that can cook it. other types of seafood, they prefer well as well.

there is an expensive seafood restaurant out of town, along the way to Bakam, past the Teacher’s Training College. it’s a chain from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Fish can be ordered fresh and is extremely delicious but at a cost. they do also have frozen fish too for those budget watchers but still more expensive than Apollo Seafood. Still, it’s very very good food as the way they cook it is different from Apollo Seafood.

btw, whatever happens, tell your friend that he does NOT want to eat tourist food i.e. sweet and sour fish, fried rice , lemon chicken, mixed veggie that is only cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, sweetpeas. try something else, there are a lot of different types of food that does not have to be spicy. just, don’t touch tourist food.

and if he misses food back home, Marriott hotel is nearby and they have a really good selection of food. chef is european i think but not sure from where. but, food is really good, to me anyways. and i’m an extremely fussy eater.

other places to eat : dim sum at grand palace hotel. the most expensive place to eat dim sum but worth it. to me anyways. can’t get decent dim sum in kuching. in miri, grand palace hotel cooks it hong kong style so it’s pretty good. he can also rough it out at a coffeeshop (open air) known as Wawasan 2020 (don’t ask why it’s called that) and have their dim sum too. 2020 is open everyday. Grand Palace hotel – weekends only and best to go early before the church crowds go. then it’s packed, especially sundays.

he must try kolo mee i.e. dry boiled noodles. there is a specific shop that i used togoto with my parents at the old vegetable market in the middle of town. they are only open after 7 pm or was it 7.30 pm? they’re mee is amazingly tasty. i need to check with my parents on the stall number and get back to you on this one. the steam chicken is also nice to eat.

cheerio.